Concern at Ohio State

Posted on 03. Jun, 2010 by freeradio in Blog, Commentary

The Lantern, student newspaper at Ohio State University, addressed the likely impact the performance tax would have on local and college radio. ”Nearly 106,000 Americans are employed by radio stations. A performance tax that would likely shut down many stations and would likely ultimately result in lost jobs in an economy already struggling with unemployment.”

No sucker for spin from the record labels notorious for beating up on college students, the author finds some hypocrisy in the RIAA’s arguments.

For more than 80 years, radio and the record industry have enjoyed a mutual relationship where the stations air music free of charge in return for the free promotion of the artists, who earn money based on this exposure in the form of record sales, merchandise and live performances…

Record companies promote the belief that revenue from this tax would solely benefit the artists. However, in reality the labels themselves would receive at least 50 percent of the proceeds. This performance tax would threaten the local radio stations that have always been free to everyone, regardless of income.

Read the full story at The Lantern.